The 49th Annual People’s Choice Awards took place on Feb. 18, 2024 from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. It was an exciting night as some of the biggest names in pop culture were in attendance, such as Billie Eilish, Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Bailey, Rachel Zegler and America Ferrera. The show was hosted by Marvel and “Barbie” star Simu Liu, who did a fantastic job keeping the show lighthearted and upbeat.
This year was historic for the award show, as the total number of categories grew to 45. Among these many categories, the cast of “Barbie” received many of the most prestigious cinematic awards, further illuminating the success of the highest-grossing movie of 2023. Margot Robbie won Female Movie Star of the Year, Ryan Gosling won Male Movie Star of the Year, Ferrera won Movie Performance of the Year and “Barbie” won Movie of the Year.
In the television categories, “The Kardashians” won Reality Show of the Year, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” won Bingeworthy Show of the Year, “Grey’s Anatomy” won TV Show of the Year and “Only Murders In The Building” won Comedy Show of the Year. Additionally, actor and producer Tom Hiddleston took the stage to accept the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of the Year Award for “Loki,” which he stars in on Disney+. Hiddleston humbly shared, “I have played Loki for 14 years, and the journey has meant the world to me… I could not have done it without you. Your passion, curiosity and love for Loki is the reason I am standing here.”
The music categories were quite competitive, and nominees were reflective of the most popular music today. To begin, Taylor Swift took home two musical awards, Female Artist of the Year and Pop Artist of the Year. Unfortunately, Swift was not in attendance. However, she had a valid reason as she was performing at the “Eras Tour” in Australia.
Jungkook won Male Artist of the Year, Beyoncé won R&B Artist of the Year, Bad Bunny won Latin Artist of the Year and Olivia Rodrigo won Song of the Year for her “GUTS” single, “Vampire.” I was thrilled to see Rodrigo win an award, having lost all six nominations at the 2024 Grammy Awards. As an artist with over 59 million monthly streamers on Spotify alone, I think she is very deserving of this recognition for her musical success at only 21 years old.
A highlight from the night for many viewers was seeing television and film star Aniston present the 2024 People’s Icon Award to her longtime co-star and friend, Sandler. As someone who has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, Sandler is very deserving of this title as a pillar in popular film, television and comedy today. Prior to presenting this award to Sandler, Aniston shared that, “Being his friend has been one of the great joys of my life… I’m proud to honor him tonight and I’d happily keep honoring him for decades and decades to come because he deserves all the love in the world, all right? Come on, it’s the Sandman!”
Another element of the show that I loved was getting to see all of the fashion. One of my favorite looks was from “Pretty Little Liars” star Lucy Hale. She wore a red draped dress with a minimal train. This elegant, yet simplistic Christian Dior look perfectly encapsulated “Hollywood glamor.” I also really liked musician Lenny Kravitz’s unique blazer. People Magazine commented, “A statement necklace and his signature shades completed yet another epic look [for Kravitz].” Finally, my third favorite look was by the night’s host, Liu, who wore a maroon suit with matching shoes. As a Fordham University student, I loved the color choice.
One humorous moment from the show that received a lot of attention was when an audience member captured a video of Eilish frowning upon certain guests. In the video, Eilish unhappily whispered, “There are so many TikTokers here.” Many people were infuriated with Eilish at the comment, whereas others completely agreed with her. I thought it was a humorous moment and should not be taken too seriously.
I enjoyed the show, and am eager to see all of the exciting pop culture moments to come in 2024.
